As of the writing of this article, I’m 18 years 9 months 8 days old, exactly two months older than Franciszka was when she died. Franciszka Smolarek and I likely are distant cousins, as her family came from a neighboring village from mine. I’m almost certain that my 3rd great-grandparents knew of her, as theyContinue reading “Franciszka Smolarek”
Author Archives: SlavicGenealogy
Priest, Police, Parishioner, Oh My!
Located on Fitzwater Street, St. Stanislaus was the second Polish parish founded in Philadelphia and the oldest surviving parish. As of this year St. Stanislaus turned 131 years old. What stories does this small parish have to tell… Between the years of 1892 and 1899 were turbulent years for the Parish of St. Stanislaus. JustContinue reading “Priest, Police, Parishioner, Oh My!”
The Land Registers of 1772
In 1772 after Fredrick the Great formed West Prussia, he had every head of household in the territory enumerated into a land registry which we have index’s and images of. According to these registers there were three Kresmers in all of West Prussia so its very likely that Helena Kresmer and her father Jakob KresmerContinue reading “The Land Registers of 1772”
52 Weeks: Foundations of Western Slavic Genealogy
We took an unconventional route to the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, instead of writing about our ancestors; Slavic Genealogy will be giving tips on Slavic research. January’s theme is Foundations and week ones theme is the same. Many people find research in Eastern Europe impossible but its not always the case. There areContinue reading “52 Weeks: Foundations of Western Slavic Genealogy”
Catholic Research in West Prussia
Every Monday were writing about the research were currently doing. Think of this as a genealogy journal. This week we’re in West Prussia, researching the ancestors of Helen Kresmer. Note, places will be referred to as they were named at the time. Many places now have Polish names. Helen was born in 1827 in theContinue reading “Catholic Research in West Prussia”
Slovak Baptisms Part 3
This is the third and final installment of my three-part series on how to read Slovak Baptisms. The baptism below was created in 1711 in Turčiansky Michal. As we can see this baptism was written in a paragraph style. Compared to the form style, this type of baptism can be harder for genealogists who aren’tContinue reading “Slovak Baptisms Part 3”
Finding Eastern European Cousins Using DNA
In the genealogical field, DNA has become a staple in research. For good reason, we can confirm the accuracy of our tree and fill in holes left by illegitimate children or foundlings. Genetic genealogy often feels hard or impossible for Slavic genealogists. There are many reasons people feel this way, DNA testing isn’t common inContinue reading “Finding Eastern European Cousins Using DNA”
Slovak Baptisms Part 2
This is the second installment of my three-part series about how to read Slovak Baptisms. The baptism below was created in 1777 in Turčiansky Michal. Although this baptism is simpler it still contains all the necessary information you will need. I will use the same format as my prior post, you can see below theContinue reading “Slovak Baptisms Part 2”
Slovak Baptisms Part 1
Birth/Baptismal records are by far the most basic genealogical record. A standard Slovak baptismal record will list the date of baptism, name of the baptized, the parents, and sponsors. Some will have more information and some will have less. Record formats are varied based on parish and priest. I’ll be walking through how to readContinue reading “Slovak Baptisms Part 1”
Slavic Genealogy 